(1) NADAL, Rafael ESP - BYE
BLAKE, James USA - KARLOVIC, Ivo CRO
QUALIFIER - PETZSCHNER, Philipp GER
QUALIFIER - (14) ROBREDO, Tommy ESP
(11) MONFILS, Gael FRA - MATHIEU, Paul Henri FRA
HEWITT, Lleyton AUS - ISNER, John USA
BENNNETEAU, Julien FRA - LJUBICIC, Iván CRO
BYE - (7) VERDASCO, Fernando ESP
(3) DEL POTRO, Juan Martín ARG - BYE
CHARDY, Jeremy FRA - MELZER, Jurgen AUT
LOPEZ, Feliciano ESP - GARCIA LOPEZ, Guillermo ESP
GASQUET, Richard FRA - (16) FERRER, David ESP
(9) SODERLING, Robin SWE - HANESCU, Victor ROM
KOHLSCHREIBER, Philipp GER - ALMAGRO, Nicolás ESP
(WC) ZENG, Shao Xuan CHN - SELA, Dudi ISR
BYE - (5) TSONGA, Jo Wilfried FRA
(6) DAVYDENKO, Nikolay RUS - BYE
KUNITSYN, Igor RUS - ANDREEV, Igor RUS
QUALIFIER - QUALIFIER
ZVEREV, Mischa GER - (10) GONZALEZ, Fernando CHI
(13) STEPANEK, Radek CZE - FERRERO, Juan Carlos ESP
ACASUSO, José ARG - BECK, Andreas GER
QUALIFIER - WAWRINKA, Stanislas SUI
BYE - (4) RODDICK, Andy USA
(8) SIMON, Gilles FRA - BYE
TROICKI, Viktor SRB - MONACO, Juan ARG
(WC) GONG, Mao Xin CHN - (WC) SAFIN, Marat RUS
BERDYCH, Tomas CZE - (12) CILIC, Marin CRO
(15) HAAS, Tommy GER - BECKER, Benjamin GER
VASSALLO ARGÜELLO, Martín ARG - QUALIFIER
QUALIFIER - (WC) GULBIS, Ernests LAT
BYE - (2) DJOKOVIC, Novak SRB
Preview:
Shanghai is the scene for the penultimate Masters Series 1000 event of the year. It is the first time Shanghai has held an ATP Masters event as it previously hosted the Tennis Masters Cup for the past 4 years. The surface is deco turf and the main talking point will be the absence of Federer and Murray and who will step up and take their opportunity. This is the conclusion to the 3 week Asian swing.
As seems to the case with every tournament, I’m predicting Djokovic to stand up and continue his strong finish to the season. Perhaps surprisingly, he’s recorded the most wins of any player on tour this year and is coming off yet another final in Beijing (haven’t yet seen the final). He looks to be in good form, striking the ball well and there are two things working in his favour here. The first is his draw; he’s the #2 seed and without Federer or Murray in his half he should reach the final. The second is that he claimed the TMC title at this very venue last year so he's got the runs on the board at Shanghai. He’s got the dangerous and peaking Gulbis as a potential 2nd round match but should prove too strong. Haas is the seed in his bracket, don’t see any trouble there. Simon/Cilic, both who have had strong Asian swings, are likely QF foes but should he get past this one there likely isn’t anyone to stop him in the SF. Andy Roddick is well down on confidence as his form seems to be tapering off quite severely and he is coming off a 1R loss in Beijing. No excuses, Djokovic should advance to the final.
Rafael Nadal had a successful week in Beijing but judging by how he fared in the SF against Cilic, he’s still well below his best and I can’t see him winning this. His draw is manageable though, he should reach the Quarters where Monfils/Verdasco will await, both of which are dangerous opponents for Rafa. Juan Martin Del Potro has been inconspicuous since his triumph in New York and he battled illness and fatigue in his 1R loss in Japan. I doubt this is the scene for his 1st Masters title especially when you consider Tsonga is looming large in his quarter.
There are some intriguing matches right off the bat with Berdych/Cilic, Gasquet/Ferrer and Hewitt/Isner just to name a few. The tournament starts tomorrow and it promises to be a good one. A few of the big names are out, a few are ill/out of form, so this is a prime opportunity for someone to really step up and make their mark. Marin Cilic could be one, he looked great against Nadal, winning 18 of the first 20 points while racing out to a 5-0 lead. He eventually won 6-1 6-3. He's showing an improved game movement is getting better and he's hitting the ball so cleanly. I can't see him getting up over Djokovic, but the Beijing Final is a nice preview to what could be a QF clash here.
Prediction: Djokovic def. Tsonga
Although they’re playing for a different title in Shanghai, I see no reason why Djokovic can’t have more success here. He looks to be in good form, he’s confident and his draw is good. It’ll be interesting to see how Nadal fares this week as he’s only contested twice in Shanghai despite qualifying in each of the four years when it was the TMC. In the two years he participated he made the Semi’s so the he can handle the surface however I struggle to see him winning 5 consecutive matches given his patchy form. Tsonga looks to be in great form having tasted success in Japan and like Djokovic has a draw he can take advantage of. The two have met on six occasions with Tsonga leading 4-2 but when they met in Miami earlier this year it was Djokovic in straight sets. Can Djokovic finally break his winless record in Masters Finals this year? I think so.
Really enjoyed the Ferrer/Gasquet match. I don't particularly like Gasquet as I find his attitude at times to be really pathetic but my word he's good to watch. He lost rather comfortably in straight sets but he hit some beautiful passing shots from both wings. Ferrer was really consistent and played quite an intelligent game and I was impressed with his performance. High quality affair and both players don't take much time between points which is good.
Blake came from a set down to defeat Karlovic. Thought he'd give up in the second set but full credit to Blake as he hung in there and started to get a read on his serve and made the big man hit more balls. He eventually won in 3 sets in a good confidence boosting win, now for Nadal and you'd have to give him a chance.
Also watched Gonzalez/Zverev, pretty good match, Gonzo hit some ripping winners and Zverev tried to get to the net as much as possible. Gonzo took the first, was up 4-2 in the second but lost the break and gave up in the tie-break and lost it 7-0. He took the third and now faces a qualifier who's name escapes me.
Lleyton Hewitt is playing Isner right now and is up an early break!
What a terrific, entertaining match between Berdych and Cilic! Berdych wins in 3 very tight sets. 7-6 (8), 3-6, 6-4. Was down 4-2 in the 3rd and serving at 0-40 to go down a double break but survived that game and didn't drop another game. Was an awesome display of power hitting by the talented pair.
Roddick forced to retire up 4-3 against Wawrinka due to a knee injury he sustained in a rally. Looked very innocuous but it forced him to call it quits after having the trainer out there for about a minute. Looks like a PCL injury to me, hopefully it's not so serious.
What a terrific, entertaining match between Berdych and Cilic! Berdych wins in 3 very tight sets. 7-6 (8), 3-6, 6-4. Was down 4-2 in the 3rd and serving at 0-40 to go down a double break but survived that game and didn't drop another game. Was an awesome display of power hitting by the talented pair.
Just got done watching the Cilic/Berdych match (had to DVR most of the play today). That was a tremendous high quality match. Berych is very streaky. He'll look as if he can't lose a point, then make a complete mockery of the very next game. I thought he was for sure going down in straight sets when he blew his 5-2 lead in the first.
Hewitt did everything he could to lose yesterday’s match against Monfils and in the end he succeeded. Comfortably won the first set, got down 4-1 in the second and raced back to 4-4 before losing it. In the third he shot out to a 2-0 lead and had numerous opportunities to hold to go up 3-1 but got broken and in the end lost 6 consecutive games to lose the set. Was extremely disappointing to see him get into such a good position and then just give it away. Too many errors on both wings and as usual, when he needed his first serve it deserted him.
The second match was Del Potro against Melzer. For whatever reason I find Melzer’s game to be really entertaining, he’s got a lovely leftie serve and plays attacking, all court tennis. Not afraid to come to the net and mix things up. He came out with a clear game plan of attacking Delpo’s second serve and it worked a treat. The match featured one of the weirdest things I’ve seen. Del Potro hit a first serve and Melzer absolutely cracked it back, hitting a forehand winner down the line. Delpo looked stunned and challenged his own serve with the hope it would actually be a fault! I’ve never seen that happen before, the player challenging their own serve which was called good. It was a clean serve and Melzer won the point.
Delpo took an injury time-out when he found himself down 3-0 in the 1st and afterwards came out a different player as he got back into the match. Melzer managed to hang tough though as he took the first set 7-5. Melzer was up 2-1 in the second set before Del Potro decided to retire from a wrist injury. Seemed rather strange and it was probably more of a precaution than anything else given major tournaments in Paris and London are still to come.
Third match was Nadal v Blake and what a ripper it was. Blake was smashed in the first set as Nadal looked almost to be back to his best as he took it 6-2. Blake found himself down a break in the second and I thought it was only a matter of time before he gave up but just like against Karlovic he fought it out and played some amazing tennis in taking the set in a tiebreak. The third was really tight before Rafa got the break to go up 4-2. However just as he did in the second Blake didn’t surrender as he got back on level terms at 4-4. Unfortunately for James he was broken when trying to level it at 5 all. Top notch match, wonderful standard throughout with beautiful winners hit regularly from both. Blake played one of the best matches I’ve seen him play and under his new coach he came to net on 45 occasions! It was a tactic that worked extremely well and Nadal needed to dig deep to get the win.
The final match was Djokovic against Fognini and as expected Novak destroyed him 6-3 6-1.
The match featured one of the weirdest things I’ve seen. Del Potro hit a first serve and Melzer absolutely cracked it back, hitting a forehand winner down the line. Delpo looked stunned and challenged his own serve with the hope it would actually be a fault! I’ve never seen that happen before, the player challenging their own serve which was called good. It was a clean serve and Melzer won the point.
That's brilliant--I wonder why no one else seems to have thought of that.
Thanks for the updates. Can't stay up late enough these days to catch any of this stuff, so definitely look forward to these reports.
So finally had the luxury of catching a late match and what do I draw: Stepanek vs Davydenko stinking the place out. Before Davydenko picked his game up a bit in the third set, it was error-filled tedium between two of the least charismatic athletes on the face of the earth.
Just got done watching the Djoc match. Hilarious finish when he missed the overhead.
Novak looked very poised and finally showd what made him a top 3 player. I can't wait for the semis.
Also, I watched the first two sets the Davydenko & Step and couldn't believe how bad that was. Davydenko looked great in the first set then really struggled. Stepanek looked terrible to start and then picked it up. There was no flow to this match.. it was just terrible.
Back to Tsonga as I really should expand, he’s massively overrated. It seems each time, as rare as it is, I allow myself to get sucked into his game he goes and proves that he’s not the real deal. He’s just not consistent enough to be considered up there with the elite and his backhand and demeanor when things aren’t going his way really need some work. He virtually threw in the towel against Soderling and it was pathetic to see. He was down a break in the second but Soderling had an appalling service game to let Tsonga off the hook. However in the very next game Tsonga was broken again due to an insipid service game and from there it was only a matter of time before it was done.
No surprise to see his countryman Monfils retire AGAIN.
Djokovic is playing pretty good tennis right now; he beat Simon last night in a tough 3 setter. Djokovic took the first 6-3, lost the second 2-6 but rebounded well to win the third. The third set started off with 4 or 5 consecutive breaks and both players were really struggling to hold until Novak ran away with the set. High quality affair, really passionate match as both players were on edge. Novak smashed 2 racquets and both were constantly talking to themselves and their coaches. Djokovic now faces Davydenko in the Semi’s and it’ll be a very tough match. Davydenko is playing real solid tennis and he’s already claimed a title on this Asian swing. Djokovic will need to serve better (5 double faults, many at poor times) and keep his emotions in check.
The other Semi features Lopez who surprisingly beat Soderling. The Swede really put in a shocking performance, couldn’t get any rhythm throughout as Lopez mixed things up, served well and took his opportunities. What a surprising run for Lopez this week as before this week you have to go all the way back to Queens prior to Wimbledon for his last ATP tour win. I’ve always felt he’s an underachiever so it’s nice to see him doing well in Shanghai.
Not sure who his opponent is; Nadal or Ljubicic. Only caught the beginning of the first set and while Rafa looked a bit overwhelmed I’m expecting him to pull through. He’s looked quite sharp this week as he’s been moving well and playing with confidence.
Finally a decent attendance yesterday, the crowd seemed to enjoy the Djokovic/Simon match with good reason.
I’m tempted to write up a big player review, sort of like a 'power rankings' thing they have for hockey. Might do a list of 1-20 players on how I see their form, potential, current standing in the game ect. Might wait until the season is done but I'll probably start it soon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kihei
So finally had the luxury of catching a late match and what do I draw: Stepanek vs Davydenko stinking the place out. Before Davydenko picked his game up a bit in the third set, it was error-filled tedium between two of the least charismatic athletes on the face of the earth.
I decided to skip that one, both players don't interest me in the slightest.
ColePens, Djokovic is hitting some nice form late in the season. Won the most matches of anyone on tour this year and he has had an extremely consistent year, obviously the disappointing aspect is his results in the Slams. Otherwise he's had a good, underrated year.
What happened to Djokovic? I only got to see the last four games of the first set and the first game of the seond set, but Novak looked like he was cruising while Davydenko struggled with everything but his overheads and his passing game. Very surprised to come home to see this result.
Don't know the extent of Lopez's ankle injury, but before it occurred and well before he defaulted, he looked thoroughly intimidated out there. Wins aren't going to come any easier than that for Nadal.
What happened to Djokovic? I only got to see the last four games of the first set and the first game of the seond set, but Novak looked like he was cruising while Davydenko struggled with everything but his overheads and his passing game. Very surprised to come home to see this result.
Don't know the extent of Lopez's ankle injury, but before it occurred and well before he defaulted, he looked thoroughly intimidated out there. Wins aren't going to come any easier than that for Nadal.
Yeah he kind of went off his game a little. Serve deserted him, and in the first set he was using his drop shot to great effect before some unknown reason he put it away. I don't think he hit one in the final two sets?
He had his chance though, had 0-40 on Davydenko's serve at about 3-4 in the final set and blew it from pretty passive playe. It was a really good match, some outstanding hitting and court coverage from both but I absolutely cannot stand Davydenko. He would surely be the most boring, lifeless player on tour? Has he ever fist pumped, or yelled c'mon, or even smiled? Like he's being tortured out there, at least the viewer is. Disappointed Djokovic lost though as it would've done his confidence the world of good and I think he would've beaten Nadal. Still got some consistency issues that need to be resolved.
I’ve never seen that happen before, the player challenging their own serve which was called good. It was a clean serve and Melzer won the point. 
